IN THE TRIAL CHAMBER
Before:
Judge Richard May, Presiding
Judge Patrick Robinson
Judge O-Gon Kwon
Registrar:
Mr. Hans Holthuis
Decision of:
25 September 2003
PROSECUTOR
v.
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
_________________________________________________
DECISION ON PROSECUTION MOTION TO ADD WITNESS B-1793 AND FOR CONTINUATION OF PROTECTIVE MEASURES FOR THAT WITNESS
__________________________________________________
The Office of the Prosecutor
Ms. Carla Del Ponte
Mr. Geoffrey Nice
Mr. Dermot Groome
The Accused
Slobodan Milosevic
Amici Curiae
Mr. Steven Kay, QC
Mr. Branislav Tapuskovic
Mr. Timothy L.H. McCormack
THIS TRIAL CHAMBER of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("the International Tribunal"),
BEING SEISED of a confidential "Prosecution’s Motion to Vary the Witness List in Order to Add Witness B-1793 to the Witness List Pursuant to Rule 73 bis (D) and for Protective Measures Granted to be Carried Forward in the Instant Trial", filed on 12 September 2003 ("Motion"), and the confidential Addendum to that Motion, filed on 17 September 2003, by which the Prosecution seeks:
CONSIDERING that the extraordinary protective measure of closed session testimony will only be granted where it can be shown that there is a very real risk to the witness and/or his family, that the right of the Accused to a fair trial is not violated and that no less restrictive protective measure can adequately deal with the witness’s legitimate concerns,
CONSIDERING that, where protective measures have been granted in previous proceedings before the International Tribunal, a reasonable expectation exists – which is always subject to the particular circumstances of an application – that these measures will continue in subsequent proceedings in which the witness comes to testify,
CONSIDERING that such circumstances apply to this Motion,
CONSIDERING FURTHER that the content of the evidence it is proposed the witness will give is significant,
CONSIDERING that the Trial Chamber’s ruling subsequent to the filing of the Prosecution’s pre-trial material for the Croatia and Bosnia part of these proceedings, that it would only allow the admission of additional material by the Prosecution on good cause being shown,1 is satisfied in respect of this witness,
PURSUANT TO Rules 73bis, 75 and 79 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence
HEREBY GRANTS THE MOTION AND ORDERS AS FOLLOWS:
Done in English and French, the English text being authoritative.
________________
Richard May
Presiding
Dated this twenty-fifth day of September 2003
At The Hague
The Netherlands
[Seal of the Tribunal]